Mallicks: Back to the Beginning (Mallick Brothers 5)

Thugs who hurt innocents, those bastards belonged in cages, rotting away far from anyone they could hurt.

Criminals, eh, I thought there should have been a lesser focus on them, only stepping in when shit got out of hand.

But cops and detectives, yeah, they didn't see those gray areas. Life was all black and white to them. And in their minds, we all belonged in prison.

Which meant I couldn't exactly be a fan of the guy who thought that when he looked at me.

But he was a good man, with a moral compass. That had to be respected. And, well, he had a thing for Helen. It was as obvious as the lovesick puppy dog look in his eyes, the way he watched Helen like she was the last woman on earth, like his entire future depended on her just simply glancing his way, giving him a smile, or a few sweet words.

He wasn't happy to see me, either.

It didn't take a genius to see that if we'd gone to a concert the night before, and I was showing up at her work to have her break with her, that something was brewing.

And everything I thought he was thinking was confirmed when I showed back up at the diner after closing to meet up with Helen, and found Collings' car parked in the side lot.

He was there for me.

I didn't even have to wait for him to climb out of his car and advance me as I climbed out of mine to know.

I knew it the second his eyes met mine through both of our dashboards.

But he stalked over toward me, all determination and anger. And likely more than a pinch of jealousy.

"She deserves better than you," he declared, cutting all the crap, getting right to the point.

"Yep," I agreed, leaning back on my car, willing to go with this, to hear him out. Because I knew he was only doing it out of his feelings for Helen, out of his belief that he was protecting her. And I couldn't begrudge him that.

"She's had enough of criminals in her life."

"Probably," I agreed, nodding.

"And you work for her father," he added. "Who would have none of this."

"Realize that too."

"And yet you're still going to go for it."

Exhaling my breath, my shoulder shrugged. "If she was willing to give you her attention, would you walk away?" I asked.

"If I knew it was better for her, yes," he said, voice dripping with sincerity. He meant that. And that just meant one thing.

"You're a far fucking better man than I am Collings," I declared, nodding my head at him. "In a fairer world, you'd be the one getting to spend some time with her tonight," I said, jerking my chin toward the window where Helen, a mop handle in her delicate hand, was throwing back her head to laugh at something the surly cook said as he passed her by.

"But it's not a fair world," he declared, watching her with an intensity that spoke of his feelings, the depth of them, the likely length of them.

That unrequited love shit, that could do a man in every time.

I hoped that wasn't Collings' fate.

Maybe he'd find a woman who wasn't the daughter of the area's biggest cocaine dealer, who he could court and fall in love with in a more normal way, not from afar because he knew Christopher Eames would have someone like me - or even me - kill him in a second if he knew a soon-to-be cop was sniffing around Helen. Maybe he wasn't doomed - as most detectives were - to failed marriages and bitter divorces and crippling alimony.

"She needs to leave," I said, making his head shoot back to me. "To get shot of her shithead father and brother. She needs to go. And I should leave her alone to do that. But I am, apparently, a selfish man. I am going to take whatever she will give me for as long as she will give it."

"Even though you know she's going to leave."

"Might not be as noble as you are, Collings, but I would never try to make her stay when I know what fate would await her if she did."

"I got to leave soon," he declared as Helen finished mopping, and set to wiping off the laminated menus. "To the academy," he added. "I won't be here to keep an eye on her."

"I'll keep an eye," I assured him. "Keep her safe. Maybe convince her to go."

I could see the hurt there, plain, unguarded, at the idea of her taking off without him getting a chance to say goodbye. But he would handle that. If it meant she was safe.

Again, he deserved her.

Way fucking more than I did.

"You do that," he agreed, giving Helen one last look, his jaw tensing. "And if she isn't gone by the time I get back, I'm holding you responsible," he told me, the threat plain in his voice.